High school roundup for Feb. 24, 2022: Avonworth boys shock Ellwood City, St. Joseph girls stun Rochester as top seeds fall

By: Tribune-Review
Thursday, February 24, 2022 | 11:48 PM

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Last year, Ellwood City won a WPIAL championship as a No. 11 seed. On Thursday night, the Wolverines were on the other end of a shocking upset.

Rowan Carmichael scored 26 points to lead eighth-seeded Avonworth to a 66-55 victory in the Class 3A quarterfinals, ending Ellwood City’s 18-game winning streak. Peyton Faulkner and Jordan Kolenda added 13 points each for Avonworth (17-6), which will face No. 5 South Allegheny in the semifinals Monday.

Alexander Roth led top-seeded Ellwood City (21-3) with 17 points. Joseph Roth and Steve Antuono added 13 and Caden Crizer had 12.

Aliquippa 51, Neshannock 47 – Donovan Walker scored 18 points and Cameron Lindsey added 10 to lead No. 2 Aliquippa (17-7) to a Class 3A quarterfinal win over No. 7 Neshannock (18-5). Aliquippa will face No. 3 Shady Side Academy in the semifinals Monday. Michael Sopko led Neshannock with 16 points.

Shady Side Academy 57, Washington 50 – Peter Kramer scored 31 points, including six 3-pointers, and Rian Fitzgerald added 12 as No. 3 Shady Side Academy moved into the Class 3A semifinals. The Bulldogs (17-6) will meet No. 2 Aliquippa on Monday. Brandon Patterson scored 19 points and Davoun Fuse added 10 for No. 6 Washington (17-3).

South Allegheny 60, Steel Valley 58 (OT) – Freshman Cameron Epps hit a game-winning 3-pointer to beat the overtime buzzer, leading No. 5 South Allegheny to a Class 3A quarterfinal win. Bryce Epps hit a game-tying 3 at the end of regulation to force overtime. Michael Michalski had 22 points, Bryce Epps added 21, and Ethan Kirkwood had 12 for South Allegheny (17-6), which will face No. 8 Avonworth in the semifinals Monday. Makhai Valentine led Steel Valley (11-12) with 26 points.

Class 5A

Gateway 66, Mars 61 – Jaydon Carr scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures as No. 6 Gateway knocked off No. 3 Mars in the Class 5A quarterfinals. Taili Thompson had 14, William Kromka 11 and Ryan Greggerson 10 for the Gators (15-5), who will meet No. 2 New Castle in Monday’s semifinals. Zach Schlegel scored 21 and Tasso Sfanos added 13 for Mars (21-3).

Laurel Highlands 52, Hampton 44 – Keondre DeShields scored 18 points as top-seeded Laurel Highlands (23-0) advanced to the Class 5A semifinals. Jayden Pratt added 14 points and Rodney Gallagher had 12 for the Mustangs, who will meet No. 5 Highlands on Monday. Matt DeMatteo had 13 points and Liam Mignogna contributed 10 for No. 8 Hampton (13-11).

New Castle 63, Shaler 42 – Mike Wells scored 22 points as No. 2 New Castle built a 28-14 lead by halftime and cruised to a Class 5A quarterfinal win. Jonathan Anderson added 13 for the Red Hurricanes (22-1), who will meet No. 6 Gateway in Monday’s semifinals. Logan Bernesser led No. 10 Shaler (14-10) with 12 points.

Girls basketball

Class 2A

Neshannock 35, Shenango 17 – Mairan Haggerty scored 11 points for No. 2 Neshannock (22-2) in a Class 2A quarterfinal win over No. 10 Shenango (13-9). Neshannock will meet No. 3 Serra Catholic in the semifinals Monday. Janie Natale led Shenango with nine points.

OLSH 70, Apollo-Ridge 28 – Emily Schuck scored 16 points to lead top-seeded OLSH to a Class 2A quarterfinal victory, running its winning streak to 16 games. Kyleigh Nagy added 13 and Mia Grisafi had 10 for the Chargers (20-4), who will meet No. 5 Seton LaSalle in Monday’s semifinals. Sydney McCray led Apollo-Ridge (16-6) with 10 points.

Serra Catholic 37, Burgettstown 36 – Cate Clarke scored 12 points and Chloe Pordash added 11 for No. 3 Serra Catholic (20-1) in a Class 2A quarterfinal win over No. 6 Burgettstown (18-4). Serra Catholic will take on No. 2 Neshannock in the semifinals Monday. Kaitlyn Nease led Burgettstown with 12 points.

Class A

Bishop Canevin 67, West Greene 63 – Rachel Boehm led with 28 points and four 3-pointers and Ashley Lippold followed with 21 points to power No. 7 Bishop Canevin (15-9) to an upset win over five-time WPIAL runner-up West Greene (18-4). Bishop Canevin will face No. 3 Union in Monday’s semifinals. Anna Durbin led No. 2 West Greene with 30 points. Brooke Barner had 10.

St. Joseph 57, Rochester 54 – Anna Kreinbrook gave St. Joseph the lead for good with a basket with 50 seconds left and sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 18.2 seconds to go as the ninth-seeded Spartans delivered a stunning upset of three-time defending WPIAL champion Rochester. St. Joseph, which trailed by 19 points in the third quarter, outscored Rochester, 40-24, in the second half.

“What an amazing night,” St. Joseph coach Dennis Jones said. “They jumped on us early. Our young legs and young minds weren’t quite ready yet. Once we settled down and started to play good defense, good defense led to good offense and it just clicked.”

Julie Spinelli led a balanced scoring effort with 15 points. Kreinbrook and Gia Richter had 11 points apiece, and Emma Swierczewski and Trinity Lockwood-Morris added nine each.

Corynne Hauser and MeKenzie Robison scored 21 points apiece for No. 1 Rochester (16-5).

“That’s as good as it gets,” Jones said. “We spread the ball around really well. I think that’s why we won. We didn’t have one or two kids trying to do everything. We played really well as a team.”

St. Joseph (10-13), which has won five of its last six after a three-game losing streak in late January, will meet No. 4 Aquinas Academy in Monday’s semifinals.

“It really started to jell about three weeks ago,” Jones said. “They started believing in each other and believing what the coaches were saying. It started feeding off itself, and here we are.”

Union 40, Eden Christian 25 – Kelly Cleaver scored 15 points and Kylie Fruehstorfer had 10 to lead No. 3 Union (20-1) over No. 11 Eden Christian (10-11) in a Class A quarterfinal win. Union will meet No. 7 Bishop Canevin in the semifinals Monday. Emilia Johnson led Eden Christian with nine points.

Hockey

Blackhawk 3, Beaver 1 – Jake Hofer scored two goals and Cody Woodward had one to lead Blackhawk (2-16-1) to a Class A win over Beaver (1-18). Ryan Kenney scored for Beaver.

Franklin Regional 5, Shaler 2 – Zach Abdallah and Luke Lavrich had a goal and an assist apiece as Class 2A East Division champion Franklin Regional (16-2-1) wrapped up its regular season. Max Rutkowski, Brett Bowser and Ben Yurko also scored and Chase Williams had two assists. Jacob Helfer and Greyson Petrush scored for Shaler (8-11).

Mt. Lebanon 3, Bethel Park 2 – Henry Supp, Marcus Simmonds and Baeddan Pollett scored to lead Mt. Lebanon (12-7-1) in a Class 3A win. Matt Lucido scored two goals for Bethel Park (8-10-2).

North Allegheny 4, Central Catholic 3 – Patrick Buttignol and Matt Irvin scored third-period goals, breaking a 2-2 tie and leading North Allegheny (17-2-1) to a Class 3A win. Connor Chi and Lorenzo Colaizzi also scored for NA. Sam Gaffney had a goal and an assist for Central Catholic (9-10).

Norwin 6, Fox Chapel 5 – Alex Thomas completed his hat trick with the winning goal in overtime to lead Norwin (13-4-2) to a Class A victory over Fox Chapel (18-0-1). Tommy Healy and Quentin scored two goals each for Fox Chapel.

Ringgold 7, Trinity 2 – Ethan Saylor, Kenny Cadwallader and Hunter Hodgson scored two goals each to lead Ringgold (13-4-1) over Trinity (1-15-1) in Class B. Cole Ramey and Jack Gordan scored for Trinity.

Upper St. Clair 8, Canon-McMillan 2 – Aaron Stawiarski, John McShanoe and Colin Ruffner scored two goals each for Upper St. Clair (7-11-1) in a Class 3A win over Canon-McMillan (4-14-1). Aidan Briggs scored two goals for Canon McMillan.

Wilmington 2, Bishop Canevin 1 – Drake Tomak scored the winning goal in the first minute of overtime to lead Wilmington (10-5-2) to a Class B win. Andrew Cartwright also scored and Dom Serafino made 34 saves for Wilmington. Ryan Saginaw scored for Bishop Canevin (15-1-2).